


Making an Omelette

by blueboxesandtrafficcones



Series: Fic Prompts - Broadchurch [3]
Category: Broadchurch
Genre: F/M, First Fight As A Couple, Love Confessions, Makeup Sex, Outdoor Sex, prompted fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 09:58:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17999654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueboxesandtrafficcones/pseuds/blueboxesandtrafficcones
Summary: Sometimes you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelette.Or: Hardy and Miller’s first fight as a couple leads to a surprising confession.





	Making an Omelette

It started, as most fights did, over something small.

“Fuck.”  Hardy hobbled the rest of the way to the bed, sinking onto it and rubbing at his foot.

“What happened?”  Ellie didn’t turn from the bathroom mirror, busy applying makeup to her face.

He glared at the shoes he had half-tripped over.  They were high-heeled and sparkly, and he’d been plenty happy with them the night before when they did wonderful things for her arse; now, in the light of dawn, they were ridiculous hazards.  “I stubbed my toe on your fucking shoes.”

“You all right?”

“No.  Can’t you put the bloody things away?  I’ve seen larger prison cells than this room, there’s no space to just leave things lying about.”  That had been one of the hardest things to adjust to, since they started this semblance of a relationship - adjusting to how  _messy_ she was.  Hardy was one for order – while a house didn’t need to look like no one lived there, it did require tidiness and organization.   _A place for everything and everything in its place_.

To his dismay, Ellie was perfectly content to leave things where she dropped them until needed again, with the occasional burst of irritability sparking a half-decent attempt to clean everything up.  So far, he thought the record of keeping the house neat was approximately two hours.  And they’d been the only ones there.

“As I keep telling you, I don’t have time,” she said a bit crossly.  “If they bother you so much, why don’t you put them away?  If you’ll recall, I was a bit busy on my knees last night to worry about where they landed.”

“How can you be so organized and on top of things at work, and yet live in this… mess?”  He almost said  _pigsty_ , but held himself back as he picked the heels up by the straps and tossed them more in the direction of her overflowing closet.

Shutting off the bathroom light she reentered the bedroom, frowning at him.  “What’s gotten into you?”

“I can’t live like this,” Hardy blurted, letting himself see the piles of clothes and shoes and  _things_  he’d mostly been able to avoid.  Now, though, it was like the first time, and he was both overwhelmed and horrified by the chaos.

Ellie’s spine stiffened, scowl deepening as she pushed past him to put her shoes on.  “Is that so?”

“You don’t make the bed, you leave things lying about, you change the toilet tissue roll when there’s still plenty left, half your closet’s on the floor, and I  _genuinely_  have no idea what color the carpet is!”

Crossing her arms, she turned to face him over the bed where they glared at each other.  “I told you when we started this, that I don’t have  _time_.  I am a single mother to two boys, one of whom is in frequent trouble.  My ‘helpful’ father spends most of his time eating my food, watching my telly, and criticizing my parenting skills.   _I cannot do it all_.  My priorities are my job, and my boys – so if that means the laundry’s only done every other week, or sometimes we have cereal for dinner, then so be it.  I’d rather help them with their homework than pick up toys that will just be out again tomorrow.  I’m only human.”

“I just think-”

“And,” she steamrollered over him, “at work, every ‘i’ is dotted and ‘t’ crossed because my boss has a giant stick up his arse, and will throw a fit and call me unprofessional if the slightest thing is wrong or I don’t have a random detail memorized!  I work ten hour days on a  _good_  day.  An easy day.  When I come home I want to see my kids!  I want to  _relax_.  And because I thought he was worth it, because I  _thought_  he could be a partner, I decided to sacrifice some of that little, precious time for a bloke!  One who does nothing but ask  _more_  of me, before criticizing my every move.  Well, maybe I was wrong.  Maybe he’s not worth it.”

Her angry words reverberated through the room, Hardy’s eyes going wide.  “Hang on-”

“We’re late,” she cut him off, spinning on her heel.  “Let’s go.”

Hardy trailed after her, shellshocked at how quickly things had spiraled out of control.  For hours after, her final words circled in his mind.

 _He’s not worth it.  It’s not worth it._ You’re  _not worth it._

* * *

By midmorning Ellie’s temper had cooled, and she was almost sorry for what she’d said.  It hadn’t been an unreasonable request, for her to put the shoes away – but what she’d said was true.  This new relationship thing they were trying, it took up a lot of her time.  He liked to take her out to dinner, to spend time with her, and while she enjoyed his company, attention, and attempts at charm, it still drained what little of that precious resource she had.  A meal eaten with him was one less with her boys, and she was all too aware of how soon Tom would be out of the house and off at uni, an expense she was entirely unprepared for.

Yet, he was worth it.  And he  _did_  help.  He spent time with her boys with and without her, giving them attention and gentle guidance, would listen to Fred talk for hours giving her a break and time alone.  She enjoyed having him in her home, in her bed.  He’d made dinner twice a week in the six weeks they’d been… whatever they were.  Didn’t hesitate to pitch in with dishes.  Made the bed.

Rationally she knew he hadn’t meant it, not really.  That he’d been upset from stubbing his toe, that they were both sleep deprived.  (Not that she could remember the last time she  _wasn’t_ sleep deprived.  The life of a parent.)  That what he ranted about probably did bother him, but not enough to matter.  Not enough to make him question their relationship – or so she hoped.

Eyes darting towards his office she saw him slumped in his desk chair, chin cradled in his palm as he stared at the computer screen.  He looked as miserable as she felt, and she groaned softly.

 _I suppose I_ am  _the one who started shouting_ … she lamented, pushing back from her desk and going to his office before she could change her mind again.  Tapping on the door, she waited until he nodded to enter.

“Hi.”

“‘Lo.”  He was watching her with careful eyes, a dejected expression on his face, and she gave him a tentative half grin.

“Can we talk?”

Hardy glanced out the window behind her, grimacing.  “Take a walk with me?”

She nodded, waiting until they were outside to speak.  “How’s your morning?”

He gave her an incredulous look as they started around the quay, naturally falling into step and heading for the cliffs near his house.  “Bloody spectacular, of course.  You?”

Stepping closer she bumped his shoulder with hers, discreetly taking his hand.  “I’m sorry I yelled.”

Glancing around nervously but finding them unobserved, he laced their fingers together and squeezed.  “You don’t need to apologize.  You were right, I suppose.  I’m sorry.”

Content to let that be all in possible range of others, and not at all certain the shouting was done, she stayed silent until they started up the path to the cliffs.  “Our first fight.”

Hardy scoffed, rubbing his thumb along her own as they walked.  “Hardly.  We fight all the bloody time.  We were fighting five seconds before our first kiss.”

“I  _know_  that, I meant as a couple.  I’m honestly surprised it’s taken us this long.  Though God knows it won’t be out last.”

“It won’t?”

He sounded so genuinely shocked that she stopped dead, turning to stare at him.  “What?  No!  I mean- Do you want to- What?”

They stared at each other in surprise and confusion, the only sounds the whistle of wind and the waves crashing on the beach below.  No one was around, they were entirely alone, something she usually liked; he was at his most genuine when they were, had let more slip about himself, his thoughts and hopes and dreams and past, in the secrecy of her bed over the past six weeks than in the six years prior.  Now, though, she felt as if they needed a referee present, to keep them on the same page.

“I figured you’d write me off as a bad investment,” Hardy finally sighed, turning to stare out at the ocean he professed to hate.  “That you were done with me.”

“Is that what you want?”

“‘Is that what I want’?” he repeated, incredulous.  “Of course not.  For fuck’s sake, I’ve been in love with you for six bloody years, and you think after six weeks and one fight I’d be through?  Really?”

Either the wind picked up drastically then or her heart was about to beat itself out of her chest, but all she could hear was a roaring in her ears as she gaped at him.  “You’re in love with me?”

After a moment Hardy winced, then shrugged.  “Aye.”

“You’ve been in love with me for  _six years_?”

He gave her his patented  _keep up, Miller_  eye roll, and she suddenly felt lightheaded.

“I need to sit down.”  She sank to the grass below her feet, staring out at the ocean as she tried to contain the storm inside her.

He was in love with her.  He’d  _been_  in love with her for six years; for as long as they’d known each other, or thereabouts.  That meant he’d loved her when he went home, after Joe’s trial.  He’d loved her through the three years of radio silence.  That this, what they had, was real for him.  It wasn’t impulsive, or just convenient, or a lark.  It was something he’d wanted for a very long time.  Alec Hardy was  _in love with her_.

“Ellie?”

She blinked, coming back to herself to find him crouched in front of her, watching carefully.

“All right?”

“You’re in love with me.”

“Yes.  Is that okay?”

Crouched down but still above her, he was backlit by the sun with a beautiful blue sky behind him.  She could see it, see his love for her in his eyes, realized that he’d looked at her that way for as long as she could remember.  The look wasn’t new, it just finally had a name, and she had an epiphany of her own.

“Yes.  Because I love you too.”  Fisting his tie she pulled him down to her, leaning back until they were tangled together in the grass, hips pressed tight against each other even as Hardy propped his torso up with his forearms to see her.

“D’you really?”

Ellie smiled, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes, heart overwhelmed with love.  “Very much so.”

Hardy smiled, a brilliant beam that was terribly rare but lit his face, making him look ten years younger and incredibly handsome.  “Good.  That’s… that’s good.”

“We had a fight,” she laughed softly, tracing the contours of his face with a single fingertip, “and we’ll have plenty more.  Including this one, because I doubt it’s over.  But that doesn’t matter, because we love each other, and… and we’re committed.  Right?”

“Aye,” he said emphatically, dipping his head to brush kisses over her nose and cheeks.  “Whatever comes our way, we’ll see it through together.”

They kissed then, a gentle press of lips quickly turning passionate as they nipped at each other.

“Make love to me,” she whispered, and he paused with his lips on her jaw.

“Here?  Now?”

“Yes.”  Conceding to the outdoor conditions, she skipped his shirt to go right for his belt buckle, copping a feel before undoing the belt.

“You know my house is a three minute walk that way.”

“Mhmm.”  Zip open, she wormed her hand into his pants and found him half-hard already.

“My house with… with a bed,” he struggled to continue, keeping himself propped above her with one hand while fumbling at her trouser button with the other.  “Or a sofa.  Just… indoors.”

Ellie sucked at his adam’s apple, bringing her free hand to help him with her trousers.  “Have you ever made love by the ocean?”

“No.”  Hardy’s eyes fluttered shut, hips rocking into her fist.

“Me neither.  Shall we give it a try?”

In the end they agreed it was a spectacular experience – even when it started to rain halfway through.

And when they were home with terrible colds two days later, well, they suffered together.

In love. 


End file.
